What guns would you take on an expedition to Alaska?

Minuteman · Feb 14, 2015

Gryphon said:
Great pics Minuteman, but I didn't see Sara, so I guess I am staying home. But if I was going, Ruger .44 mag revolver, and a Marlin big loop lever .45-70, no scope to save weight.

Ok, I was getting there... a lot of guns mentioned already in this thread, and very few folks posting pics. Let me just jump ahead a bit...

Don't let this factoid fool you:

No matter how desperate the lack of water situation, don't drink urine, nope don't do it:

Back to the Alaskan guns...

Ice_Cream_with_Jaiden_Grizzly_Bear_Pic_s_June_2_2008_052.jpg

Uncle Duke · Feb 14, 2015

engineerbrian said:
Here are my pics

Protection
Rem 700 in .300 Win mag; big gun for big animals.....

Hunting
Ruger 10/22 and Rem 870 with bird shot; lets face it, if you are trying to survive are you really going to shoot a moose or bear as a meal then move on? I'm thinking small game hunting is the way to go.

Tradeoffs. Small game makes sense. But what's that they say? Some days you eat the bear? Some days the bear eats you?

Sometimes, there's this rather unpleasant tingle on the back of my neck that tells me that all is....shall we say....perhaps somewhat less than well???

engineerbrian · Feb 14, 2015

Minuteman said:
Ok, I was getting there... a lot of guns mentioned already in this thread, and very few folks posting pics. Let me just jump ahead a bit...

Thanks for posting this. I want a holster like this for my 10mm.

It looks like Adams has them for $180.

SRD · Feb 14, 2015

SRD said:
.44 or .454 in a cross draw and a 45-70 lever.

Gryphon said:
Great pics Minuteman, but I didn't see Sara, so I guess I am staying home. But if I was going, Ruger .44 mag revolver, and a Marlin big loop lever .45-70, no scope to save weight.

Guess I could add a .22 but something light like a AR 7 or Papoose even a Single Six or Heritage.

INMY01TA · Feb 14, 2015

Mossberg 500 loaded with slugs and a Smith 629.

Mooseman · Feb 14, 2015

I want to reserve a space.

protegeV · Feb 14, 2015

Go big or go home.

Vepr12 w/ slugs
S&W .500 revolver
50 bmg rifle.

jimbobborg · Feb 14, 2015

If I had to choose from firearms I have now,

Winchester 94 in .45 Colt with 50 rounds of +P hard cast 255gr ammunition
Ruger Mark II, one bulk box of .22 HP ammunition

Since it's going to be a trek, 50 shotgun shells weighs more and takes up more room than the above ammunition loadout. Jeeves is not following me around carrying my stuff, so I'm lugging this and the rest of my gear over hill and dale.

Guns I don't own but would use if I have the foresight to pick them up prior to getting dumped in BFE Alaska:

Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70, 50 rounds of +P hard cast lead ammunition
Ruger Single-Six with one bulk box of .22 HP ammunition

From deer to moose to Kodiaks, that 45-70 will take them down. The Ruger is for birds and rodents. Again, I'm not Charles Atlas, I'm not lugging a ton of ammunition and both firearms and loadouts are what I'd need for 6 weeks of slogging through Alaska with my gear.

fabsroman · Feb 14, 2015

thomfantomas said:
my side arm would be in 45acp and rifle wise i'd take something in 7.62x39 whether it being Ak-47 or Sks(detachable mags) with reliable illuminated optics.

I guess you are hoping that a brown bear doesn't decide to make you into an appetizer.

.45 ACP and 7.62x39 are fine and dandy when the threat/dinner is human sized. Start getting into larger stuff, like caribou, moose, large deer, and brown bear and you had better be shooting them through the eye.

This thread makes for a good debate.

Me, I would bring my:

1) Ruger77MKII in .300 Win Mag with 3-12x
2) Benelli SBE 12 gauge chambered for 2 3/4" to 3 1/2"
3) Ruger 10/22

Optimally, I would probably want something in .338 Win Mag or .375 H&H and a handgun like the Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull, which is also capable of shooting .45 ACP.

byf43 · Feb 14, 2015

My choices would be:

Remington 870 w/ slug barrel and shot barrel w/ screw-in choke tubes. 12 ga., of course.

Ruger 10/22 Takedown with 3-9x sope.

S&W mdl 41 w/ 5-1/2" barrel.

Dan Wesson 44 VH-8 w/ VH-4 barrel assembly.

Glock G21

Marlin 1895G in .45-70 w/ 2-7x scope in Warne Quick Release rings.

Remington 700 BDL in .30-'06 w/4-12x scope.

My reloading equipment for all of the above and as many magazines that I can carry.

Lou45 · Feb 14, 2015

swinokur said:
Handgun 44 Mag or 10mm auto.
Rifle 300 Win mag

BigDaddy said:
I would take by 338 Win Mag, only because I sold my 375 H&H.

GUNSnROTORS said:
Preliminary option B "The Hunter": Win Mod 70 in .375 H&H and a S&W Model 29 in .44 mag.

fabsroman said:
I guess you are hoping that a brown bear doesn't decide to make you into an appetizer.

.45 ACP and 7.62x39 are fine and dandy when the threat/dinner is human sized. Start getting into larger stuff, like caribou, moose, large deer, and brown bear and you had better be shooting them through the eye.

This thread makes for a good debate.

Me, I would bring my:

1) Ruger77MKII in .300 Win Mag with 3-12x
2) Benelli SBE 12 gauge chambered for 2 3/4" to 3 1/2"
3) Ruger 10/22

Optimally, I would probably want something in .338 Win Mag or .375 H&H and a handgun like the Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull, which is also capable of shooting .45 ACP.

Alotta good posts here and there is definitely a huge trend with rifle and handgun calibers.

Handguns: Primarily revolvers with minimal caliber of .44 Magnum. :thumbsup:

Rifles: Primarily a bolt action with a minimum caliber of .300 Win Magnum with emphasis on the .375 H&H Magnum (the latter is my choice). Also a close second is a lever action in .45/70. I'm not so certain I'd care for the .45/70 due to it's short range for truly good effectiveness on the really big stuff. The .375 H&H has the poop behind it to reach out with ME being very near 4,000 ft pds. I'd prefer a .458 Win Mag or .458 Lott but the trajectory really becomes steep at longer ranges and the recoil is quite stout with the Lott in a light rifle (the .458 Win Mag is stout too but not as severe as the Lott).

BTW, I used to shoot these big bores (not the Lott) up to and including the .505 Gibbs. Some of them can be shoulder bruisers in a BIG way.

traveller · Feb 14, 2015

The question I pose to you, good reader of MDShooters; inspired by the concept of surviving in rural Alaska - which gun(s) would you take to harvest food, and protect yourself from predators (both four legged and two)? Sharing your rationale is half the fun; why did you chose each gun and caliber? What features, i.e. - light weight, range, accuracy, capacity, reliability, maintenance, simplicity most influenced your choices?

I think people may have lost track of the original premise. The question was not what arsenal would cover every possible hunt you can go on in AK.The question was what would you take to feed and orotect yourself. A bear is a terrible choice of quarry in a survival situation. What are you going to do with 300lbs of meat all at thesame time ? A 300 win mag is not much use to take a goose. A bear at 400yrds is no threat, at 50yrds where he is a threat, the 12ga with slugs is going to be sufficient. Maybe a stainless revolver for 2-legged threats, but between that and some additional firemaking equipment, extra shells or emergency medical pack, I would probably leave the second gun home.

So 12 ga stainless pump, synthetic stock, rail and a rugged low-power scope it is.

Minuteman · Feb 14, 2015

traveller said:
I think people may have lost track of the original premise. The question was not what arsenal would cover every possible hunt you can go on in AK.The question was what would you take to feed and orotect yourself. ....

Good catch.

And again, this doesn't have to be guns anyone already owns, it's 'ideal' firearms.

The more I think about it, I think I'd be best served with a light weight 'big bore' revolver (maybe 454 would be ideal?) just for protection, and a .22LR to harvest single meal sized game.

Then again, I think I could do both of these chores with just a FN 5.7 pistol. Would save a lot of weight too.

fabsroman · Feb 14, 2015

traveller said:
I think people may have lost track of the original premise. The question was not what arsenal would cover every possible hunt you can go on in AK.The question was what would you take to feed and orotect yourself. A bear is a terrible choice of quarry in a survival situation. What are you going to do with 300lbs of meat all at thesame time ? A 300 win mag is not much use to take a goose. A bear at 400yrds is no threat, at 50yrds where he is a threat, the 12ga with slugs is going to be sufficient. Maybe a stainless revolver for 2-legged threats, but between that and some additional firemaking equipment, extra shells or emergency medical pack, I would probably leave the second gun home.

So 12 ga stainless pump, synthetic stock, rail and a rugged low-power scope it is.

Are we talking about surviving in Alaska? They kill deer and larger animals all the time for survival. What am I going to do with 300 pounds of meat during the winter? I don't know, maybe freeze it. Then, you have the ability to smoke it or dry it out in some other manner too.

If you are hunting to live in Alaska, I am betting you aren't going to be too picky about what you have to kill and whether any meat will go to waste.

Miniteman also hinted at a 5.7 handgun. Something else to think about is ammo availability. Are we just going over there for 30 days, or are we talking about firearms that would allow us to actually live in Alaska and live off the land?

Lots of what ifs.

Kagetsu · Feb 14, 2015

All around, Benelli SBE II. and a .44 Desert Eagle. I'm fond of semi-auto's. Though watching the people that live there and feed themselves, they rarely carry or use shotguns. Without a dog or decoys. Small game gets iffy at close range. The AR-10 seems very popular. So I would probably swap the shotgun for a .308 repr. When you look at little critters as food, traps and fishing tackle becomes more productive.

kidcadet1996 · Feb 15, 2015

Ruger 10/22 takedown, Ruger Mini-30 and a 357 Super Magnum Revolver.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Overboost44 · Feb 15, 2015

If I could take 3 it would be an AR-10 that is as light as I can make it. A .44 mag revolver and a 10/22 breakdown.

traveller · Feb 15, 2015

fabsroman said:
Miniteman also hinted at a 5.7 handgun. Something else to think about is ammo availability. Are we just going over there for 30 days, or are we talking about firearms that would allow us to actually live in Alaska and live off the land?

Lots of what ifs.

The premise was an orienteering type hike where you carry what you need for survival. I maintain that a 5.5lb shotty with a float bag full of assorted shells is going to have much more utility than 15lbs of long-range bolt-gun and heavy large caliber revolver.

If you watch those shows about backcountry living in AK, you see the natives taking caribou with .22 and take deer with BP rifles.

If the threads premise was: What big bore guns do you like? then most of the entries so far make more sense.

Trying to remember who makes the OU with a .22 and a 12ga barrel. If putting food on the campfire is the objective and you have to carry the thing all day, that would seem another reasonable choice.

Blaster229 · Feb 15, 2015

Certainly not a Boberg

traveller · Feb 15, 2015

Blaster229 said:
Certainly not a Boberg

Oh its perfect, you shoot your buddy in the knee while you get out of the way.

What guns would you take on an expedition to Alaska?

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